IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Burnt Island Ventures
Climate Change
Natural Resources and Conservation
Water and SanitationFirm Overview
Burnt Island Ventures was founded in 2020 to find, fund, and support the best water entrepreneurs in the world, filling a clear gap in the $1.4 trillion industry's funding structure. We deployed our oversubscribed $30m Fund I across 18 companies (one zero, one exit, one exit pending), with $50m+ in portfolio bookings in H1 2024, and a 61% graduation rate (likely to rise to 85%). Q2 2024 TVPI is 1.24 (vs top quartile cutoff of 1.08 for 2021 vintage, with several up rounds to come in the coming months). Our team has deep specialised water expertise, and we have built market-leading investment support infrastructure through the BIV Platform. Our Advisory Board and network is exceptional, covering everything from technical insight to utility sales.
Years of Operation: 3 – 4 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25% – 49%
Water is at the basis of all human endeavors (including living longer than 3 days without it), we are increasingly unable to match need with supply in the face of climate change, and fixing that problem will result in the rapid growth of a $1.4trn technology and service market.
By 2030, global demand for water will exceed sustainable supply by 40%. Climate change is water change - it is the principal medium through which climate change will be (and is now currently) experienced. Our ability to cope with climate change is predicated on our ability to manage water, and our ability to manage water is predicated on available technology. Filling the funding gap is crucial to our ability to adapt to what’s coming. Before BIV arrived, there was no early stage funder of choice in the water sector. We are building the entity to fill that gap, and help grow the paltry 1% of climate funding that goes to water. There are more companies being created, run by better founders, in more dynamic markets, and with an increasingly clear set of exit pathways from strategics to IPO.
We think about this in two ways - differentiating from water investors, and from climate investors. We are creating the water seed fund of choice. Our differentiators will be our burgeoning reputation (Tom, Christine and Steve are all known quantities in water and our focus on Platform is paying dividends), our visibility (we have had 600+ inbound opportunities this year, with 23k+ unique visitors, up 71% y/y), our specialization & underwriting capabilities, our network, and our founder set (30+ of the top global water founders in the portfolio). Water is increasingly important in the climate conversation as we mainstream resilience. Generalist climate VCs don't have the networks or expertise to be useful, and we are regularly contacted by major firms to vet opportunities. Water founders and non-specialist investors want BIV on their cap tables, and that is an all-important emerging and potentially sustainable edge against both water and climate investors.
Investment Example
Daupler is a fundamental redesign of utility and asset manager emergency response. They automatically interpret, triage, and conduct dispatch against incoming reports of issues in real assets for everything from sewers to water main breaks to real estate leaks, transforming their customers' lives in the process. They not only increase the rate at which emergencies services are delivered, they also reduce the overall number of truck rolls that occur saving significant amount of time and resources for hard-strapped utilities. They're now expanding to other areas of the built environment, including rail, telecom, aviation, hazardous waste and more. $6.4m ARR in 2024 - $14m budget in 2025. BIV's largest position in Fund I, on the board since 2021. Will be live with their first power IOU before the end of the year, and have 13 more in process - $100m ARR opportunity in the US alone, on top of the water opportunity.
Leadership and Team
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Tom Ferguson – Managing Partner More Info
Tom brings a decade of experience in water and startups to lead BIV. His start in water came as the lead author on the first CDP Water Disclosure Report in 2010, and he joined Imagine H2O in 2015 to build out the organization’s programming portfolio, which now encompasses 3 global programs vetting 500+ startups per year. Companies selected under Tom’s tenure have raised $600m+ and achieved 5 exits. He holds an MA from the University of Edinburgh, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
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Christine Boyle – Partner More Info
Christine is a partner at Burnt Island Ventures where she works with innovators to bring the next generation of water technologies to market. She was the CEO and founder of Valor Water Analytics, which sold to Xylem in 2018. She served as Vice President of Digital Product Development at Xylem for 5 years following the acquisition. Christine is also Chair of the Cal-Nevada American Water Works Association and a trustee of the American Water Works Association Management and Leadership Division. |
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Steve Kloos – Partner More Info
Steve Kloos is an experienced investor and company leader with a deep background in water, energy, and climate. He was previously at GE Water as Membrane Technology Leader, Advanced Technology Leader, and member of GE's venture capital team. Steve led new investment sourcing as a Partner at True North Venture Partners, and served in two stints leading True North portfolio companies, and he is the founding board chair of Current Water and a longtime advisor to ImagineH2O. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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We examine each investment in terms of its impact potential in water. This will fall usually in to one of four buckets: - Access: Improved access to safe and affordable water and water-related services - Treatment and Reuse: Enabling every molecule of water to be reused over and over, and creating renewable sources of clean water. - Efficiency & Safety: Maximizing the economic and operational performance of existing and proposed infrastructure. Improved safety of water resources and operating conditions in the sector. - Climate Mitigation & Adaption: Preparing for and protecting against the impacts of climate on water quality, quantity, and delivery. Enabling processes that reduce GHGs and/or produce renewable energy via water. We include this as a key section in our systematized due diligence process. This is then discussed with and confirmed by the company post-investment. We also aim to understand second-order consequences, e.g. health impacts or gender impacts.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
228 Park Ave S PMB 60412, New York, NY 10003-1502 USA
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